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Artist News
Alabama 3 frontman Jake Black dies
By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 22 May 2019
Alabama 3 frontman Jake Black has died after falling ill following a performance at the Highpoint Festival in Lancashire last week.
“Early this afternoon, on a beautiful summer’s day, our friend, comrade and spiritual teacher, Jake Black, aka The Very Reverend D Wayne Love, passed over to the higher ground”, said the band in a statement yesterday. “After a magnificent performance at the Highpoint Festival in Lancashire, D Wayne in his supreme wisdom, decided it was the appropriate moment for his ascension into the next level”.
“The transition was painless and peaceful”, they added. “He was surrounded by brothers Larry Love, LB Dope, The Spirit, Jonny Jamm and Sister Therese Mullan. We are heartbroken”.
According to Sky News, Black fell ill after the band’s Highpoint performance last Friday and died in hospital yesterday.
Combining country, blues and acid house influences, Black founded Alabama 3 with Rob Spragg in Brixton in 1995. Initially known as The First Presleyterian Church Of Elvis The Divine (UK), they subsequently adopted the name Alabama 3 and released their debut album, ‘Exile On Coldharbour Lane’, through One Little Indian in 1997.
A remixed version of a track from that record, ‘Woke Up This Morning’, was used as the opening titles music for all six series of ‘The Sopranos’, and remains the band’s best known song. They have released thirteen albums in total, the most recent, ‘Blues’, in 2016.
